It was a game of two halves. Richard Gasquet for an hour made Andy Murray look like a good club player before the Scot transformed his game to recover from losing the first set to win 1-6 6-4 6-1 6-2.

Murray was outplayed in the first set, committing countless unforced errors as he struggled with his length and game-plan. He recovered though to win a tight second set before the Frenchman game fell part in third and fourth set and Murray simply blew him away to reach his third French Open quarter-final in four years.

Murray did seem to be hampered by his continuing back injury, early in the first set he gestured to his coaching staff, tapping the left-hand side of his lower back with his racket and shaking his head. Any time Murray clutched his back the partisan Paris supporters booed. This was usually after the Scot had lost a point, so perhaps with some justification. In the end it almost seemed as if Murray was taunting the crowd as he seemed to revel in the hostile atmosphere.

The pair traded breaks, Murray going ahead as his forehand improved but being pegged back when it again looked shaky, with the turning point in the match coming when Gasquet double-faulted at set point down.

Gasquet’s lead was more through Murray’s sloppy play rather than his own good play, so once Murray was “warmed up” and the errors stop coming of the Scot’s racket, the Frenchman looked very fragile.

Murray will now play Spaniard David Ferrer on Wednesday in the quarter finals. Ferrer has beaten Murray in all three of their previous matches on clay despite Murray leading their head to head 5-4.